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Thursday, 23 July 2015

In a previous post I mentioned the visit to the parish by
the Yorkshire Naturalist’s Union in 1946 and the depressingly long list of
birds recorded then that no longer breed.

On the plant side I anticipated a similar modern dearth but
having the benefit of an expert, in this case Linda - the local recorder for
the Botanical Society of the British Isles, we turned up quite a few of the
species recorded then, albeit now restricted to the small patch of fen in the Magic
Garden and the nearby ‘Rich Ditch’, an unspoiled area along the How Beck.

.

These two remnants are separated by a single field, just
think of the possibilities if they could be joined….

Species found included good areas of Skullcap (Scutellaria
galericulata)...

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

and this lovely little Square-stemmed St. John's-wort (Hypericum
tetrapterum)

Sunday, 19 July 2015

This young Spotted Flycatcher with its parent are the only breeding
birds I have located in Ainderby village this year. Spotted Flycatchers are, of
course, one of the species’ which have seen very large falls in breeding
numbers in recent years with six times as many nesting birds recorded in
Britain just thirty years ago.

In this one the youngster has just been fed a Brimstone moth.

The adult is carrying a ring and I assume it is probably this
individual we ringed in the Magic Garden in the spring.

Spot Flys often nest in close proximity to people, for example in
vegetation on buildings or holes in walls. In fact one of the old local names for
the species was the rather lovely Wallchat. One pair a few miles from
here took this to an extreme by choosing to nest on the hinge of a gate to a
tennis court. This gate was in constant use through the summer but the pair still
managed to raise their brood.

Saturday, 18 July 2015

In the top fields at Ainderby the rabbits have dug their
warren through an old village midden, as they have excavated their tunnels they
have thrown up lots of pieces of china and broken glass, a number of oyster
shells…

but also more unusual things like a pony shoe, an ivory-handled
knife, some complete bottles and this Vaseline jar....

Because it has a corked stopper and not a screw top it
probably dates it to the late 1800s. I suspect, given the quality of much of
the material, that this midden was associated with the Manor.

Talking of excavation, for many years I have been in the
habit of kicking over molehills on the hunt for some unearthed treasure.
Friends have found bits of Roman and medieval pottery and even a Roman coin but
I have had precisely zilch until the other night turned up this 1943halfpenny. Not exactly Time Team but I’m
easily pleased!

There were Two Little Egrets yesterday evening on the river
by the railway bridge. This summer influx to the Swale now seems to be a
regular event. I would have got closer for a better picture but got vigorously
chased by the cattle here!

Wednesday, 15 July 2015

Monday night’s conditions were great for mothing, cloudy,
mild and humid. The traps were enticingly busy….

In fact John filled two trays of boxes just with the moths
in the vegetation around the first trap. I was only able to spend a couple of
hours there before having to get to work but John put in a solid six hours
emptying the three traps and processing the catch.

There were a total of 721 moths and the highest species mix
to date. This included 108 definites, a further five moths that can’t be
identified to species level in the field and three others taken away for
identification or confirmation. There were no less than 27 new species for the
parish including Lempke’s Gold Spot….

Tuesday, 14 July 2015

We had planned a moth session on Saturday night but poor
weather put us off. Last night was much more promising and we had an excellent session. I’ll
detail the catch tomorrow but here are a couple of moths ‘in the field’

This is a Drinker, so called from its caterpillar’s apparent
fondness for drinking droplets of dew. Look at those antennae…

And this is an exquisite Gothic.

This Little Grebe is nesting on the Magic Garden pond only a
couple of feet off the end of the jetty. When disturbed it slips quietly off
its nest but never without first covering its eggs with water weed.

Also of note a villager reported a possible sighting of Green Woodpecker
this week. This species used to nest in the parish up to the 1960s but there
have been no recent sightings.

Sunday, 12 July 2015

I had a rare foray out of the parish to Fermyn Woods in
Northants yesterday. We saw several superb Purple Emperors...

Together with White Admiral, White-letter Hairstreak,
Silver-washed Fritillary plus another
dozen species of butterfly. In high numbers too, as a reminder of what many parts of the British
countryside must once have been like.

Today, by the rather more mundane standards of the parish, was
also a good butterfly day with the Magic Garden holding 50+ Meadow Browns, a couple
of dozen Ringlets, a handful of Speckled Woods...

My first Comma of the year....

And best of all (having referred to its apparent disappearance
from the village only a couple of posts ago!) a Small Skipper.

Other sightings here included two Emperor Dragonflies on the
lake and a Southern Hawker hunting along the woodland rides.

Monday, 6 July 2015

I grew up in south Worcestershire and Banded Demoiselle were
one of the signature species of the well-vegetated brooks which ran into the
River Avon so I have always had a soft spot for this striking damselfly. In the
parish their stronghold is along the stretch of the Swale where Bedale Beck
joins the river. Yesterday afternoon I had a total of 40+ along a short stretch
of the river, most concentrated around a single large patch of nettles, docks and
thistle.

The males are unmistakeable with their broad blue-black band
across the wing and their fluttering, almost butterfly-like, flight. The
females are less distinctive but close up show a lovely iridescent green body
and translucent green wings.

Also first good numbers of Small tortoiseshells there yesterday.

I noticed on these thistles that they all moved in a 90° clockwise direction until they had completed a full 360° . I assume this is to maximise their feeding efficiency rather than for display?

Friday, 3 July 2015

It’s been such a terrible year for butterflies that seeing a
dozen Ringlets and Meadow Browns this evening seems like a bit of a high spot
and is my only excuse for including these…

A relatively limited range of habitats etc. means the parish
butterfly list is short (22 species) and getting shorter as some former regular
species have disappeared with, for example, both Large and Small Skipper not
seen for a number of years. I’m not clear why this should be as suitable
habitat certainly still exists in the parish and the latter species is
increasing in numbers nationally. I will make a concerted effort to try and locate
some this month.

On the lake the female Tufted Duck has managed to hold on to
all nine of her young so far and a Kingfisher has taken up temporary residence.
A Sparrowhawk flashed through vigorously
mobbed by at least 20 Swallows. With practice I think you can make a reasonable
guess at the hawk species by the Swallows alarm call with both Hobby and Sparrowhawk eliciting
the most vigorous response, slightly less for Kestrel and further subdued for
other species. As if to prove the point a little later I heard a less intense
version of their call and this time it was a Little Owl bounding across
half-heartedly dive-bombed by a small group of Swallows..

" Men that undertake only one district are much more likely to advance natural knowledge than those that grasp at more than they can possibly be acquainted with ; every kingdom, every province, should have its own monographer."Gilbert White — The Natural History of Selborne.This blog covers the birds and other wildlife in the parish of Ainderby Steeple, North Yorkshire.